AS SOON as I enter Hackney Town Hall, I can tell I’m surrounded by serious second-hand bargain hunters.
I’m here to try out a major clothes swapping event – where people can exchange old items they no longer wear for fellow shoppers’ pre-loved pieces.
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The event I’m attending is in Hackney in East London, but there are clothes swapping events all around the country every week.
It takes me a little while to find the actual event as it’s hidden in an un-glamorous community centre at the back of the town hall.
But I eventually spot endless rows of clothes rails surrounded by women with tote bags and know I’ve found the right place.
I arrive a bit early to try and get ahead of the crowd – it’s about 11.30am and it’s already quite busy.
The atmosphere feels quite restless as people crane their necks to see if others have started swapping yet.
You can drop off clothes from 10.30am, but shoppers aren’t let in until 12 so the rails themselves are clear for now.
But a volunteer warns me that things can get a bit “hands-on” later in the day, as bargain-hunting shoppers race to uncover the best items.
How do clothes swaps work?
The premise of clothes swaps is that you can exchange a number of pre-loved clothes for items in a similar price bracket.
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Not every event has the same rules and some of them are not free, so it’s worth checking online before you attend.
For this particular swap – which runs several times a year – you can bring up to five clothing items that are clean and in good condition.
In return, you can take up to five pieces home that have been brought in by fellow swappers.
For each item you bring, you are given one or two tokens, depending on its estimated current value.
Items worth under £50 are assigned one token, while items worth more than £50 and in excellent condition are assigned two tokens.
This felt like really good value as £50 is a very wide price range, so you could bring Primark items and exchange them for more high-end pieces.
I hand over my three items of clothing, which are quickly inspected by one of the volunteers.
I’ve decided to give up an old skirt from New Look, which I bought for £5.99 on sale, a pair of Aerie leggings, which I also bought on sale for around £6, plus a men’s polo shirt from Burton, which sell online for around £11.
They’re then put straight onto hangers and onto the rails for other swappers to take – the whole process takes around a minute.
I’m given three raffle tickets – one for each item as they were worth under £50.
These are my tokens for the day and I start browsing the racks.
How much can you save?
I’m not a fashion expert, so after a quick sweep of all the rails I decided on two pairs of work trousers and a men’s Ralph Lauren shirt.
I can use one of my tokens for each of the items.
One of the pairs of trousers was from H&M – I found similar pairs online for between £20 and £25.
The other pair of trousers was from a more niche brand, but the quality felt great and they fit perfectly.
However, it was the designer Ralph Lauren shirt that amazed me. When I Googled it, I found new ones selling online for around £100.
In total I bagged at least £130 worth of goods, while the items I gave up barely amounted to £30 – a saving of £100.
Some clothes swaps have more strict price brackets, so you may not be able to trade up as much.
However, it’s still perfect for those who have items that don’t fit as you can trade it for a similar item that you can actually wear.
I’m an avid user of second-hand clothes selling apps like Vinted and Depop, but going to a live event was much better as I could see and feel the items I wanted to take.
I could also walk away with them there and then rather than waiting up to several weeks for them to be posted.
What other free events are there?
Eventbrite distributes tickets for Hackney Clothes Swap events throughout the year.
The tickets are free but they sell fast, so get in early if you want to guarantee a place.
The events are run by Loanhood, which runs a clothes rental app.
Their next event runs July 10 to July 30 at Selfridges in London and focuses on selling more high-end items, while they are running another regular clothes swap in October.
There is a free clothes swap on Manchester’s Sidney Street on September 16 – but you’ll need to reserve a place on Eventbrite as demand is high.
For this event, you can bring up to 10 items to exchange for tokens – or alternatively, if you have nothing to swap you can pay £3 per token.
Style Swap Social runs a regular free clothes swap event in the Liverpool area – and there’s one this weekend.
You can get free tickets on the Style Swap Social website. At the swaps, each item is worth one token.
New clothes swaps around the country are regularly uploaded onto Eventbrite.
Facebook is also a great way to find local events – just search for your local town or city.
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